Sorry about the long absence. Just had this on the back-end, and got really busy. I mean, REALLY, busy, but I thought might as well draw this to a close soon. Just a few more chapters, as it was, like, 30 years or something since it happened with Shen or whatnot. It was a long time, and I don't think I can write up everything, lol. So, enjoy :)

"Wind conditions?"

"Nothing extreme."

"Any chance of rain?"

"No sir."

"Clear the testing ground."

The wolves and gorillas ran to the edges of the flattened ground as the Wolf Boss and Meiyou discussed conditions from above a raised wall. On the left side of the Wasteland's walls an area had been cleared surrounded by wolves and gorillas at a far distance. Shen waited until the calculations he had spent ages on were finalised and bristled with impatience. "What's taking so long?" he snapped.

"Sorry, sir. Doing the test now. Lang, drop the first one" ordered Meiyou, a notepad in hand and a piece of charcoal ready. The Wolf Boss grunted and threw the explosive down. They all looked over the edge eagerly but as it hit the ground nothing happened.

"Damn it! Try the next" yelled Shen angrily, and the wolf threw the second one. This time it exploded halfway down, not even denting the wall. Scowling, Shen went over to the small pile of experimental bombs and made some additions of his own, dusting the weight and fuses. "OK. Throw it down this time."

Picking up the one his Lord had fixed, the wolf boss used all his strength to throw the explosive down to the ground. The friction lit the fuse and as it hit the ground there was a huge explosion, the sound echoing moments later as sound followed light. "Excellent. Hmm. Throw them all at the same time!" exclaimed Shen eagerly, causing Meiyou and Lang to look at him in alarm. "Do what I say! Throw them all at once."

Picking up the remaining bombs, the Wolf boss dropped them at once, and dived for cover. Meiyou did the same but Shen looked over. This time one exploded just before it hit the ground and set off the others, but when they hit the sound and explosive force multiplied tenfold, shaking the ground and foundations. "Finally, progress! Still, I cannot make us fly, yet, so I must find a way of shooting them forwards. You two, follow me, and get the wolves and gorilla to clean up. Then check any damages to the foundations, and to fix them if necessary."

Meiyou looked over his leader's blueprints, the peacock drawing up and scrunching numerous plans. "I think these two are the better choices, Your Lordship, the catapult ideas" he suggested, handing the rolls to Shen, who examined them once more. He nodded slowly and tucked them under his wing.

"Let's give them a go."

The group of wolves, rhino and gorilla trekked up the mountainous parts of the lands, setting up large targets of painted canvas to be used as firing ranges for Shen's weapons. The peacock himself was in his fortress, watching the huge catapult wheeled out, and a huge bag of gunpowder and other materials attached together. "Crank it back!" yelled Shen, the cry echoed by the four operators of the device.

Slowly, the spring was pushed back and the huge device was readied until it locked into place. The cloth sling held by ropes had the bag put against it. "Telescope" ordered Shen, and took the one proffered to him by the Wolf Boss. He walked in front of the device and looked through it to one of the targets.

"I want to hit the largest target, the one in the middle with the painted number 5. Got that? Rotate it a bit" he added, the gorillas using their immense strength to lift and turn it. "Faster, faster!"

"It's so big, master, it's really hard to move" complained one of the gorillas mid-lift, and earned himself a scowl from Shen.

"Tough. Do I as say. OK, good. On two, light the explosive. On three, hurl it. One… two… three!"

With a thwack and jerking movement, one of the wheels running over a gorilla's foot who cried out in pain, the projectile was fired through the air. A rip in the bag however meant that as it flew through the air the gunpowder ignited to early and instead a scattershot explosion filled the sky, the sound almost deafening those present, and doing nothing. "Bah! Too clumsy, inaccurate. It's all wrong!" he snarled and stalked away. "Turn that thing into firewood."

Back at the top of Junfa's pagoda, the area now free of soot and dust, Shen made calculations and annotations to his blueprints. Frustrated at the lack of insight, he desperately went for the scrunched up bits, straightening them out and eyeing each one carefully. "Wait a minute. Yes, instead of something loose and springy… it will require a lot of metal but… hmm, yes" murmured Shen and mapped out a rough drawing of a metal cylinder with a fuse. Similar to how people used fireworks, but instead of shooting them upwards, it would shoot them at targets.

"Build this!" he ordered, throwing the blueprint and measurements to his steel workers. They looked at it, seeing a snarling dragon with a large cylinder stuck in its mouth, an imposing device. With a look at each other, they went to work.

Next chapter to come soon. The trials and failures of Lord Shen.